Once upon a time there was a cartoon princess with eyes as blue as sapphires, hair as red as flame, and skin so white that people complained she didn't look Hispanic enough.

Hispanic pressure groups have accused Disney of "backpedalling" on their first Latino-inspired princess by making Sofia, the star of new Disney TV film Sofia the First: Once Upon A Princess, a decidedly Caucasian girl.

Lisa Navarrete, spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza, said: "They made a big deal out of it, and there was a lot of fanfare, but now they're sort of scrambling. It's unusual because Disney has been very good about Latino diversity."

Princess Sofia will make her first appearance on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior in the US next month and is voiced by Caucasian actress Ariel Winter.

The film's co-executive producer Craig Gerbe said Sofia was "a mixed-heritage princess in a fairytale world".

He said she was born and raised in Enchancia, a "make-believe 'melting pot' kingdom" patterned after the British Isles, and stressed that her mother was of Spanish heritage, voiced by Grey's Anatomy actress Sara Ramirez.

Her red hair and fair skin, he said, can be traced to her Scandinavian-inspired father.

Over the past two decades, Disney has introduced such culturally diverse female protagonists as Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, and the African-American princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog - and not forgetting its other redheaded star, Merida, the Scottish princess of the 2012 film Brave.